The Many Faces of Marley, Part 3

I snapped these photos with my iPhone the other night.  They're a little blurry, but you get the point!

Wordless Wednesday

Why I Write...

So, I started back to school last week.  One of the classes I'm taking is English Composition.  One of our first writing assignments was to write a short essay about why we write.  Here it is...

Outside of school, I find myself mostly writing to preserve memories or to get something off my chest. A few months ago I embarked on the adventure of blogging, and I have to admit, it’s freeing to me. My husband passed away from cancer earlier this year, and I have a three year old daughter. She and I moved from the place we’ve known as home (Michigan) to be closer to family and so are essentially starting over. One of the reasons I put my writings online is to keep friends from Michigan and college up to date on what’s going on in our lives down here. But the primary reason I blog (write) is to share photos and memories of our lives with my husband so that someday when Marley is older she will be able to read it and it will hopefully jog some memories for her. She does remember her Daddy, sometimes cries for him at bedtime, but I want to be sure that those memories never fade to the point of being forgotten.

Blogging is also a form of therapy for me. There are so many decisions and situations that I am going through as a newly widowed woman at the relatively young age of thirty-five. I have a good support system, but at the end of the day, it’s just me and the thoughts running around in my head that are left for me to deal with. Some of them are happy, some are sad, and some are downright painful. For me, writing has always been helpful in sorting through the emotions and decisions that fill my thoughts when the day is done and I’m left alone in the quiet. I’ve found that if I take the time to write them out, there is often the unexpected benefit of helping me get a handle on the things that bother me and look more objectively at things that might require a decision or action on my part. Once it’s down on paper or online, then I feel like I can move on to the next thing that’s roiling around in my head.

Another reason that I write is to hopefully help others. I know that while the loss of my husband is traumatic to me and my daughter, it’s not that unique to the world in general. People lose spouses to cancer all the time. But when you’re the one walking through it, it is devastating. I hope that someone who is hurting like I am hurting will someday stumble across my blog and that the things that I have written will help them in some way. I never truly appreciated the pain and utter loneliness that comes with this kind of a loss. Now my heart is filled with empathy for those who have walked this path before me, as well as those who will find themselves on it after me. Hopefully the happy and sad thoughts that have poured out of my head and heart and through my fingers onto the keyboard will help another person the way they’ve helped me.

Wordless Wednesday



January 2008~ 4 months pregnant with Marley

Pretty in Pink

My sister Beth takes great photos.

 Remember these that she took of Marley in Florida? 

Well, before there was Florida, there was my parents' place in rural Indiana.  We had come down to celebrate Marley's first birthday.  It was a VERY HOT August day (yes, her birthday is in June~ we were a bit late...) but Marley didn't seem to mind.

Take a peek!

Love these little piggies!

We were cracking up cause she was going cross-eyed!

Marley and Hope are just 6 months apart. 
I love these identical outfits.

I miss those chubby little cheeks!

A Call to Love More...

Want a little more info about the T-shirts featured on the left side of my blog?

Click HERE.

These are lovely people whom I've had the pleasure of meeting through my sister Beth.  Since adoption is near and dear to my heart, I'm planning to order a shirt myself!  I got to see one that Beth was wearing, and they are super soft and comfy.  :)

Black & White

A professional photographer I am not.

But I like to take pictures. 

And some things look better in black & white.

These are some of my favorites from the year

that Marley was one year old.

One thing I love is that Marley inherited my feet. 
If you're adopted, that makes sense to you.
So, every year, I make sure we have a photo of our feet together.

Melt my heart.

Always thinking...

The feet thing again...

Teach your children well...
Jim and Marley were always putting spare change
into her piggy bank.

Summertime Fun

One of my dear friends has a son whom Marley just adores. 

 His name is Joseph, but she calls him Jo-Fiss. 

Aren't they just adorable??

Wordless Wednesday



2008~ Jim's Baptism

Like Father, Like...Daughter??

Jim and Marley did a lot of cartoon watching.  NickJr has a lot of great child-friendly shows on it, and I think he secretly liked the shows as much as she did.  One day I walked in from the kitchen to see them hanging out on the couch and couldn't resist snapping these photos.

Look at his face~ he's loving it!

Cracks me up how they're both fully aware that I'm there taking pictures, and both completely ignoring me!!

Now those are some good cartoons.

My Favorite Shirt

This was one of my favorite shirts of Marley's.

So one afternoon I got out the camera while we were hanging out in the back yard.  Marley has always prefered sticks, leaves, and rocks to more conventional toys when she's outside.

She also liked to pester play with our dogs, Eddie and Lily.

Check out the diaper!

That was a good summer.

She Figured Out How to Roll!

Hangin' with Grandpa

Jim's dad is what I  like to call a "salty" man.  He's a former Marine who's had some difficult times in his life.  He and Jim weren't really close growing up, but as Jim became a man, they grew closer.  When Jim was ill, Dave made the trip to Michigan as much as he was able.  He's a rough man with rough language and habits.  But he had a soft spot for Jim, and

 once Marley came along... well, it was all over. 

We still visit him now that Jim has passed, and he's always got cookies and milk for Marley.

He's always thought she was funny, and he laughs at just about anything she does. 

She's the apple of his eye.

These are some of my favorite photos of the three of them.

Bathin' in the Sink~ 2009

I remember when she was so small that I could actually lay her down flat in the sink and she fit.

Once she could sit up, bathtime was even more fun.

I sure do miss those days!